Sea World questions - please help!

[DestinationDisney]

Hi everyone!

We'll be spending a week in Disney this coming August and we thought that this time around we'd go to Sea World.

Is Sea World a full day trip?

Is there anywhere in Sea World to eat dinner other than a burger and fries place?

Is it possible to see all the shows in one day? If no, what are the not-to-miss shows?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[jcriket]

I think you can spend a whole day at Sea World. I 'm not sure about a sit down place to eat, but seem to remember one. You could see all the shows if you planed it well, but you might not have time for much else. If had to pick favorite shows it would seal and otter, shamu, and water skiing. We spend a lot of time looking at the exibits too. The artic, sea lions, sharks, and penquins are nice.

 

[isla bonita]

You can easily spend a couple of days JMHO.

The shows kinda of overlap and For us it would be Pets Ahoy fro my kids and Blue Horizons Whal and Dolphin. I think this one is breathe taking.

Our children did dine with Shamu with my mom and they loved it. We have eatin at the BBQ place and Fajitas place. Both just ok but that is how AI feel about most of the park eateries. I did like BG food better. Go figure.

 

[Tess'smom]

We spent a whole day there and did not get to see and do everything that we had hoped to. We also made reservations and ate at the last possible dinner time in the restaurant with the aquarium in the park. They had to escort us out as the entire park was closed when we finished eating. It was kind of strange with all of the lights dimmed and no people around.

We loved the Shamu show - that is a must. We also loved feeding the manta rays and the dolphins. My DD could have stayed there all day. The Budweiser horses are spectacular. My DH liked the free beer too.

Have a great time! Talking about it makes me want to go back!!!!!!

 

[Andy B]

The shows are timed so you can't just walk out of one into the next but they are all doable in a day.

There are some good restaurant options in SW.

 

[KayR]

Seaworld is almost getting to be a 1.5 -2 day trip IMHO. In fact I would recommend allowing 2 days for it if you can (or one day this trip and then follow up on your next trip)

Some of their shows are so good now, you should try and see them all. You can't do all the shows and all the exhibits in one day. I think it would be too much.

IMHO the food at Seaworld is generally OK.

There is a full service restaurant called Sharks. Located in the shark area with a glass wall into the shark tank. You have to make reservations when you arrive if you want to eat here. Reservations need to be made at the restaurant not at guest services.

In April Seaworld were doing an all you can eat BBQ thing which we tried - we thought it was good value for us all. Basic BBQ fare but served in their picnic area with a post meal 'disco' for the kids - which they all enjoyed. It was a nice respite from the bustle of the park.

They also have an evening Luau which I have never done so can't give you a review of.

Dine with Shamu - again - never done it, but heard mixed reviews on quality of food & amount of interaction you get.

Shows:

Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island. Funny (silly, clowing around type funny). But get there at least 30 mins early to watch the pre-show. (look out for the mime!)

Blue Horizons : awesome and indescribable

Oddesea : "Cirque du Soleil" style show - well worth watching.

Pets Ahoy - amazing trained (rescue) animals - kids love it.

Elmo and the bookaneers - my 2 yo DD loved it, but I thought it was the worst kids show I have seen in a long time (and I have seen Elmo on tour before as well as other kids shows). Do it if you have little elmo/sesame street fans, but otherwise skip it.

Shamu - a must do. They are just starting their new evening show for the summer "Shamu Rocks"

For the kids: Shamu's happy harbour has rides, slides, waterplay areas, fun-fair games and more.

For the big kids: Kracken (awesome) and Atlantis (you will get wet!)

Evening fireworks: watch from the seaport area. We tried watching from outside Shamu stadium last trip (as we had done the last Shamu show and all the good fireworks spots would have been taken already). We were soaked by the sprinklers - also the view was not good. So either rush round to seaport after Shamu or come back another day just to do the fireworks. They use the water screens to show images too (like Fantasmic).

There are plenty of places for the kids to cool off - take swim clothes/change of clothes/towels etc.

Enjoy - it is a neat place.

--Kay

p.s. watch out for Seaworld's new waterpark, Aquatica -opening 2008 - looks awesome!!!

 

[dougsmom98]

We went to Sea World on our last trip, and we were not able to a lot of things. We got there at opening and stayed until 6 pm. I had an old Unofficial Guidebook to Sea World and followed their advice. When we entered we went right to the Dolphin Feeding area because they have a feeding at 9:15. That was cool. Next we hit the Clyde and Seamore show which was hilarious. I recommend sitting up high under the canopy. We were down low and had great seats but we roasted in the sun and it was only February! Next we went to the Dolphin show. That was amazing. I would sit up higher for that one too because there is a lot going on. We were close to the front and couldn't appreciate it as well. Finally we saw the Shamu show. The splash zone is more like the soak zone. If you sit there, you will look like you fell in the river when the show is over. People who were in that area walked out soaking wet and furious. I am so glad we didn't sit there. After that, we tried to see as much as we could and we didn't even see half of the exhibits. There is a lot of walking at this park and we had such a hard time figuring out the maps. When we were trying to leave, we saw several families like us who couldn't figure out how to get to the entrance. The shows were worth it all though. I highly recommend this park.

 

[DestinationDisney]

Can someone also answer this:

How much money will it cost for a taxi to take us from our hotel (Saratoga Springs Resort) to Sea World?

Also, are there taxis readily available to return home after the park has closed?


Thanks again!

 

[sticker231]

We spent a whole day there and did not get to see and do everything that we had hoped to. We also made reservations and ate at the last possible dinner time in the restaurant with the aquarium in the park. They had to escort us out as the entire park was closed when we finished eating. It was kind of strange with all of the lights dimmed and no people around.

We loved the Shamu show - that is a must. We also loved feeding the manta rays and the dolphins. My DD could have stayed there all day. The Budweiser horses are spectacular. My DH liked the free beer too.

Have a great time! Talking about it makes me want to go back!!!!!!

Alot of people don't know about the free beer in the Hospitality Tent! I was talking about Seaworld with someone at work and asked how many free beers they had, the response "what they give free beer?" It is a definite must not miss.

 

[isla bonita]

sticker231

That is why my husband comes to Florida for all the free beer at both SW and BG.

He will not be traveling with us on Sept we will be doing Disney no free beer there. LOL

 

[DestinationDisney]

WOW! Thank you all so much for your great responses! Now I'm REALLY excited for Sea World. I haven't been there since I was 5, and I'm now 26 so I can imagine a lot has changed since then!

There is a full service restaurant called Sharks. Located in the shark area with a glass wall into the shark tank. You have to make reservations when you arrive if you want to eat here. Reservations need to be made at the restaurant not at guest services.

When you say that reservations need to be made at the restaurant, does this mean I can book far in advance like you can at Disney restaurants? Or do you mean I can only book reservations the day we arrive at SW?

They also have an evening Luau which I have never done so can't give you a review of.

Does anyone know anything about this Luau and what the price is?

My DH liked the free beer too.

FREE beer?!? My boyfriend is going to really like this, I'll have to save this pointer as an added surprise for him! We really don't 'drink' at all when we're in Disney (water and food is expensive enough as it is) so I'm sure he'll be happy to have a free glass of beer!


Thank you all again for the great tips/pointers and opinions on the best shows.

 

[U2_rocks!]

When you say that reservations need to be made at the restaurant, does this mean I can book far in advance like you can at Disney restaurants? Or do you mean I can only book reservations the day we arrive at SW?

You have to go to the restaurant in person on the same day you want to eat, anytime after 10 we were told. So we planned our touring to get us up in the sharks area sometime before 10.30 so I could put down our name. At 10.30 we had lots of choices for lunch times (even though there were 8 of us!), and we chose 11.45. It was late April and the section we were in was pretty empty, though the other section was almost full. We got a great table right up against the tank.

I don't think you can see all the exhibits and shows in one day, esp if you also want to do any rides! Shamu is usually only 3, maybe 4 times a day (at least in non-peak time), and the other shows maybe have 1 more show than that. You have to plan carefully if you want to be able to see them all, and you have to be willing to stay all day. In between the shows you can do attractions but the park isn't tiny, and it takes time to walk around from one thing to the next - you might not have a lot of time between shows to get everything done. If you only have one day, then you will need to prioritize. In peak season the park is open later and presumably there are a few extra shows, but there are also a lot more people! As it is we missed the 1 p.m. Shamu show in non-peak season because we didn't get there early enough (we got there at 12.45) and the stadium was full. There then wasn't another Shamu show until 6 p.m., which was too late for us with our young kids! So you have to build in that time to arrive early enough to get in to the more popular shows or you may miss them.

Just like you can't do every single thing at WDW each trip, you cannot do every single thing at Seaworld either in just 1 day. If you really want to do the park in detail, spend 2 days (most advance tickets will allow you an extra day included in the one day price). If you don't have 2 days, then you'll have to pick and choose.

 

[KayR]

Luau

Presented nightly in the Seafire Inn. Adults $45.95 plus tax. Children ages 3-9 are $29.95 plus tax. Infants free but require reservations. Park admission is not required and is separate from the price of the Luau. Reservations are available by calling 1-800-327-2424

More details can be found at http://www.4adventure.com/SWF/res_makahiki.aspx including a menu.

--Kay

 

[lovindonald]

We LOVE Seaworld. You can do it all in a day but it does get hot there. Last time we went, we did the Shamu and Friends breakfast and it was so much fun. My shy little DD even got called onto the stage for part of the show, she loved it. The food was decent (not disney) but good and a buffet. The kids got souvenier cups to take home too. The also do dinner with Shamu which is supposed to be better. Maybe somebody else has done that and can tell you about it.

We had the best time feeding the dolphins and the sea lions. I will say though, that after the price of admission and then feeding everything (avoid the stingrays, they are hard to feed and not as much fun), and snacks or whatever you need for drinks, food, etc. it is a VERY expensive day. Make sure you check the website for deals where you pay for a 1 day ticket and then change it in for 6 free days following that if you want to return. I got that and even though we didn't go back, we had that option which was nice. You will love it there.

 

[Figment22]

When you say that reservations need to be made at the restaurant, does this mean I can book far in advance like you can at Disney restaurants? Or do you mean I can only book reservations the day we arrive at SW?

SW Annual Passholders can make advance reservations for Sharks Underwater Grill. All others can only make their reservations at the restaurant on the same day. The Sharks reservation desk opens at 10 a.m.

FREE beer?!? My boyfriend is going to really like this, I'll have to save this pointer as an added surprise for him! We really don't 'drink' at all when we're in Disney (water and food is expensive enough as it is) so I'm sure he'll be happy to have a free glass of beer!

In addition to the free beer samples offered out front at the hospitality house, you can also sign up for special beer tastings, also free. The times of the tastings will be listed on your SW map that you get upon entering the park. Again, you have to sign up at Hospitality house. These are held in an area behind the main HH food and beverage area. There are a number of flights offered, each of which samples at least four different beers. They are paired with a food item that brings out the best taste in each beer; different cheeses and crackers, fruit and chocolate.

I just pulled out my souvenir cards from the tasting. There were three flights offered on the day we went:
Flight One was Budweiser Family which included Bud Light, Budweiser, Budweiser Select and B to the E.
Flight Two (the one DH and I took) was gourmet beers: Michelob Ultra, Michelob Ultra Amber (which was my favorite), Michelob Light, Michelob, and Anheuser World Lager
Flight Three was called Progressive Tasting. The samples were: Bud Light, Budweiser, Budweiser Select, Michelob AmberBock and finally Bare Knuckle Stout.

It was very enjoyable. Be sure to leave some time to sign up for one of these.

Edited to add:
Did you know that there is a separate forum for Sea World and Discovery Cove right here on the DIS?
You can get lots of good info there. Here's a link to the main Sea World page:
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=32

Have a great time!

 

[AnninIowa]

We did SeaWorld this past February, and will definitely be going again next time around! It was an all-day event for us and we still didn't see everything. Trying to get to the shows is hard; we managed Believe, Blue Horizons and Clyde & Seamore; you need to make sure you are there when they open so you can figure out your shows right away.

We ate at a nice place by the Waterfront area...it featured wood fired pizzas, can't remember the name! I was counter service, but still very good. Beware, because if you think Disney food is expensive, SeaWorld's is worse! Bottled water is $2.99; same with pop. Then if you want to feed the sealions or dolphins, you have to buy that food ($5 for a few fish). It's worth it, though; just make sure to budget it in!

 

[mumzie2three]

We did the Luau last May and we loved it. It was worth the money.

We had lunch at Sharks and weren't that impressed. If you love seafood they have some unusual choices. (I don't mean strange, just not usual.)

And the free beer is actually free beers, two per person and it is a regular size, not a sample.

And I agree with others who say you need more than one day. The shows are all really good and we missed two of the best, Pets Ahoy and Clyde and Seamore.